Heartless
by LightandDarknessUser
Summary: A new World appears, only to immediately be destroyed by Heartless. Luckily, one person is spared from oblivion. A unique Heartless who kept his memories, how will he be able to keep the extent of his dark powers hidden after he allies with the warriors of Light we all know so well? Rated for mild language and character death(but this is Kingdom Hearts;no one dies for good).XionxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.**

**Yen Sid's POV**

I sighed with relief as I took a sip of my tea. _With Xehanort destroyed and Braig and Vanitas on the run, things have really quieted down._ I took another, longer drink.

The door to my study flew open, causing me to drop my tea cup. "Yen Sid!" Lea shouted. "A new World appeared!"

I glared at the pyro. "And why did you feel the need to tell me this?"

He opened a short Corridor of Darkness as a window into the space between the Worlds. A gigantic cloud of Darkness was slowly approaching one I had yet to see. "Heartless," I observed.

"No duh, Sherlock!" I glared at him again. "Apologies, Master!"

I took a closer look at the World they were approaching. "It appears to be just a city. Why would they be going there?"

Lea shrugged, then suddenly stiffened. "Hold on a sec." He closed his eyes. "The Hearts in that World have an abnormally low tolerance to the Darkness. Braig or Vanitas might be guiding them to bait us into a trap." He grimaced. "And they know that we can't just sit by while innocent people are killed."

I sighed. "Most of the others are on other missions, but luckly Xion and Isa are free. I'll summon them." I raised my hand, creating two swirling hurricanes. The tornadoes vanished, revealing the two former Organization members. I explained the situation and they hurried to this World.

**Xion's POV**

We landed in the World before the Heartless. A voice in my head told me it was called Sunset City, which made sense due to the beautiful sunset on the horizon. I looked around for anything dark. "I don't feel anything," I stated.

Isa nodded. "We must have gotten here ahead of them. We should prepare a counter attack."

"Too late, losers!" A purple blast hit the ground between us, throwing us back. Braig stepped out of the shadows, his guns loaded. "Guys, you seriously thought we wouldn't plan around everything? We've fought you before." He looked up into the sky. "And, again, too late." We followed his gaze to a gigantic Corridor of Darkness forming in the sky, leeking Heartless into the World.

Isa immediately grabbed me and threw me through a CoD, sending me back to The Mysterious Tower. Yen Sid was startled. "Xion! Thank goodness you made it out alive!"

I pushed myself up and used my Keyblade to open a gate. "I'm going back."

Yen Sid stopped me. "You can't go in there without a ship or armor." I switched to my Final Form and jumped through.

I landed in front of a school that was already being swarmed by Heartless. I ran in and started hacking away at them.

**?'s POV**

I was walking down the hallway with my friends when the school suddenly shook. "What was that?" Ben asked.

Screams erupted from down the hall as the ground started to rumble. A wave of black insect-like things flooded the hall, overtaking several surprised students and staff. I took off running, trying to get to the nearest exit before-! One of the monsters, a big humanoid one with a huge gut, stepped in front of me, causing me to bounce off of it and into the wave. I struggled to get up, but the monsters kept clawing at me and biting me, keeping me from getting any higher. I kept sinking until only my left arm was sticking out, unable to do any more. I felt some kind of poison rushing through my veins, numbing my body and slowly sapping my will. Then a hand grabbed my free wrist and tried to pull me up.

**Xion's POV**

I pulled desperately on the arm, not willing to accept that I had failed to save anyone. I pulled on it and cut at the Heartless, trying to free him. I managed to reveal a bit of his face, only a green eye, but then the light faded from the eye and the lifeless body vanished into small dots of light that floated away and faded. I angrilly stabbed my Keyblade downward, instantly destroying several Heartless and embedding it in the floor. I gave up and left, running to find Lea and Isa.

**?'s POV**

I immediately felt rocky ground jabbing into my back. I shakily pushed myself up and looked around. There didn't appear to be a single source of light, yet I could see just fine. In fact, I could see the tiny monsters running all over the place perfectly. _Hold on, what?!_ I stumbled back as I remembered my "dream" and felt my body, seeing whether or not I was a ghost. Luckily, I was fully solid, though I didn't appear to have any clothes. Or privates.

I looked down at myself, hoping to find the same body I always saw in the shower. Instead, smooth black flesh replaced my old normal body. My feet only had three clawed toes and each of my fingers had claws as sharp as knifes. I felt my head, finding the familiar spikey hair, but as I touched it, the individual strands cut at my skin. Ram horns curled off the sides of my head. I looked around and found what seemed to be a lake. I ran to it to look at my reflection. I was greeted by what appeared to be one of those monsters, but shaped like me. I stared into the completely red eyes for a minute or so before the full force of the situation hit me. _I'm one of them!_ I shook with fear and shock. _A monster!_ I clenched my fists, stabbing my claws right through my hands. I couldn't hold it anymore and screamed, but what came out was more like my voice, accomponied by a little boy's voice and a man's, all making the exact same sounds at the exact same time. "What is going on?!" I shouted, still using the same voice. "What the hell is going on?!" A cloud of Darkness began to rise from my skin, darkening the surroundings even further and causing some of the monsters to grow.

"Whoa, calm down there!" I looked up and saw a man in a black coat. "Cheer up or these Heartless'll get too strong for me to control."

"Con...trol?"

He struck a heroic pose. "The Heartless ally with the strongest force within range of their freaky noses, and that would be me and my bud, Van."

I started to shake. "You brought those things to my home?"

He seemed taken aback. "Home? Wait, you can remember being human?!"

"You did this to me!?" I lunged at him, slashing with my claws. He jumped away, his hood falling away on the process. His one good eye was wide with shock.

"Easy, kid! I'd rather not become a Heartless again!" He summoned two guns and fired at me. Glowing 2-D daimonds stabbed into my body, one after one, until I couldn't even move without causing serious damage. "Now, let's get you back to base and find out what you are."

I gritted my teeth and stepped toward him, despite the immense pain. He backed up. I continued to approach him, slowly growing numb to the pain. Step by step, my pace increased. The shards loosened and fell from my body, shattering on the ground. The lacerations instantly healed and I slashed at him again, this time getting his coat but failing to cut his flesh.

He picked at the shredded leather, an annoyed look on his face. "Screw this. I'll kill you some other time." Darkness swirled around him and he vanished.

I panted, then fell to my knees, staring at my clawed hands. "What am I?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Lea's POV**

It had been a few days after the events at Sunset City, and Xion was still really bummed out over not being able to help anyone. I tried to cheer her up by reminding her that she helped the people trapped inside the Heartless, but it didn't help much. Roxas was still off on his mission with Ven, Aqua, and Terra, so they couldn't help; Riku, Sora, Kairi, and the King tried and failed; and Isa thought it best if we gave her her privacy.

Yen Sid tried searching for Braig and Vanitas, but since they weren't in the Realm of Light, he came up short. The huge swarm of Heartless were destroyed when Sunset City collapsed, so they most likely returned to their realm to be regrouped by their masters.

I sighed and ate my ice cream on top of Yen Sid's tower, wondering why Braig would lure the Heartless to a World filled with defenseless people, then just ditch them and let us escape.

"The gears in your head are turning. That's rare." Isa sat down beside me and took an ice cream from my bag. "I know you're trying to make sense of everything: how to help Xion and what Braig's intentions were, I mean. As for Braig, he may have seen a vital flaw in his plan and his ego wouldn't allow him to let it be discovered; or he was just being a maniac like Xigbar." He sighed. "Xion, however, is worrying me, too. Her heart is still new, so it's obvious that she needs to get use to emotions, but sinking this low into depression is strange even for a new heart." He took a bite of the ice cream, then spat it out. "Bleh! Why do you have ovacado-garlic? No one likes that crap!"

I looked at my ice cream for the first time: lemon-lime. "I wasn't really paying attention at the store." I dug through the bag before coming up with some _good_ ice cream: the signature sea-salt flavor. I handed Isa one and we ate for a few minutes. "Hey," I finally said, thinking of something, "has Xion ever been to a carnival?"

"I don't think so," he replied. "Are you thinking about the Twilight Town Carnival tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Everyone already plans on going but her. We just need to get her there and she won't be able to leave."

"Seems a little forceful, but necessary. Let's go get the others to help."

The next day, we had all agreed on the plan. It wasn't at all subtle, but like Isa had said, "necessary." We literally shoved her in a sack and dumped her at the Sandlot, at the center of the carnival. She thrashed the whole time, obviously, and was very annoyed when we dumped her out.

**Xion's POV**

More like furious! They kidnapped me in the middle of my daily exercises, carry me across the World, and drop me at a public square! What the actual #$&%!

"What are you doing?!" I yelled at them as soon as I was out.

Lea grinned. "You needed a break from your sulking, so we decided to take you with us to the carnival."

Roxas grinned in turn. "Plus there's a Struggle tournament today and I entered everyone."

Aqua looked at him angrilly. "And by everyone, you mean...?"

His grin faded and he backed away from the oldest Master in our group. "You can drop out of you don't want to enter. Except you, Xion. You're having fun today, whether you like it or not, which you will."

A loudspeaker boomed through the town. "_Attention, the Struggle tournament will be starting shortly. Participants should begin making their way to the Sandlot immediately_."

Reluctantly, I waited with the others for the first round to begin. Once everyone had checked in, the refferey went over the rules. "For this tournament, the fight will continue until a fighter is down for ten seconds or is knocked out of the ring. No armor or extra weapons are allowed in the ring, no exceptions. That is all for the rules." He looked at his clipboard. "First up is Terra versus Seifer." The two went up to the ring and fought, with Seifer winning by a ring-out. "Roxas and Ventus." Roxas won by a K.O. "Aqua versus Xion." I'm pretty sure she threw the match. It went on like that until the semi-finals, which me, Roxas, and Isa had made it to along with a guy called Midnight. He was very out of place, wearing a dark-grey leather coat with the sleeves torn off, a red long-sleeve shirt, black jeans with shreaded knees, black leather boots with red laces, and a chain each around his neck, tucked in to hide the pendant, and in his right belt loops. His spikey black hair had a bit of red on the left side and the rest plain obsidian. His eyes were an unnatural shade of red, like someone had set a ruby into a marble ball.

Roxas was paired with Midnight for the semi-finals, so I started to feel bad for him; he didn't have a chance. The match started and Roxas rushed at Midnight, swinging his bat. The blow was blocked, allowing his opponent to knock his feet out from under him and knock him high into the air. Midnight hit him on the way down, throwing him over the crowd and onto the ground. "The match goes to Midnight by ring-out." Isa and I stared at the boy who had effortlessly defeated our friend. "Next is Isa versus Xion."

We stepped into the ring and raised our bats into our regular battle stances, though Isa had a difficult time switching from a claymore to a bat and had to adjust it. A whistle blew and we rushed each other. I dodged his first strike and hit him in the stomach. He dodged my next attack and hit the back of my knee, forcing me to kneel down. His body and bat started glowing and he rose into the air, entering Berserk mode. He dropped down and went into a frenzy, hitting me as many times as he could without being blocked, which was a lot. I backed to the edge of the ring, panting, sure that the next hit would be the last. He rushed forward and swung the bat, but at the last second I dodged and hit him in the back of the head, causing him to face-plant outside the ring. "Xion wins by a ring-out. The next round is the finals, so go fix yourself up."

I returned to my friends and let them use their Cure magic to heal me, but every second I became more terrified of the finals. "Don't worry about it," Lea encouraged. "You're a warrior, and he's just some kid."

"Some kid that knocked out you, Seifer, and Roxas each in two seconds flat," I pointed out.

They wished me luck and I returned to the ring. Midnight was waiting, spinning his bat on his finger. We waited for the refferey to return, then he started the match. My opponent stayed perfectly still, as though daring me to attack. I looked for something to indincate his plan, but he just seemed to have closed his eyes and tuned everything out. Still cautious of using a direct attack, I instead swiped at his feet. In a flash, my bat was spinning into the air, ripped out of my hands by his. He opened his eyes and raised his bat, obviously planning to take advantage of how close we were to the edge to knock me off. I looked up and saw my bat falling down, spinning faster than before. It landed on his head by the pommel, disorienting him long enough for me to retrieve the bat and hit him in the face with it. He stumbled backwards, to the edge of the ring. He realized where he was far too late and started flailing his arms to keep from falling from the ledge. I grinned, seeing victory for the first time since the semi-finals. I walked over to him and smiled sweetly. He returned it with a nervous, almost begging smile. I took the bat and tapped his chest with it, causing him to lose his balance and fall. "The victory goes to Xion!" The crowd applauded, and I looked down to see that even Midnight was clapping, covered in dust and seated on the ground.

I stepped down and helped him up. "Good job. You'd have gotten me if it weren't for my luck." He rubbed the spot on his head where the bat had landed.

"Yeah, that was... unintended." He pointed behind me. "I think you're friends want you." I turned to see them waving for me to follow them.

I turned back to Midnight. "Wanna come? It doesn't look like you've got anyone to go with."

He looked at my friends. "You sure? I kinda beat the crap out of two of them."

"They're fight-oholics. They probably worship you for it."

He agreed and followed me to my group. I introduced everyone, including Naminé, who had only just arrived, and they agreed to let him tag along. We enjoyed a few games, which I hate to admit he seemed to make more fun, then went on a few rides.

**Roxas's POV**

I watched as Xion's mood quickly improved to the point that she was enjoying herself more than the others. I was glad that my friend was happy again, but I found it wierd that the whole time she decided to stay with that Midnight guy. _She just met him. She can't be-_ I suddenly remembered several other people we had helped over our adventures; specifically Ariel and Erik, Snow White and Prince Charming, Belle and Beast... you can see what I'm getting at, can't you?

I talked to Lea about my theory, but he just shrugged it off, as he hadn't met any of them and didn't think it was possible. I talked to Sora and Riku next, but neither of them saw why I had a problem with it(which I didn't; it just confused me). I stopped all-out stalking them and enjoyed the carnival, but still looked over at them from time to time.

A crash rang out through the town and we all immediately prepared to fight. A swarm of Heartless scurried down the street, chasing several people. I could here more in the distance. "We can't get them all seperately without casualties," Isa informed us.

"Then let's round 'em up!" Lea suggested. "But how?"

I noticed that Midnight was staring at the Heartless with a dark look. He turned to the group. "I might know how." Before we could ask him, he raised his palm in the air and a ball of Darkness formed. "I'll group them up at the station. See you there!" He ran off, immediately pursued by what seemed to be every Heartless in Twilight Town.

We all set up barriers around the city and guided everyone into them before taking off to meet with him, leaving Kairi, Mickey, and Terra behind as a second defense. We reached the station and found him only just arriving, and immediately jumping to the top of it.

**Midnight's POV**

The others arrived just as I did. I jumped on top of the station and looked down at the Heartless climbing up the wall after me. Seeing a chance, I held out both arms at and angle, willing the Darkness I was holding to flow around them. The Darkness molded around my arms, forming two scythe blades around my hands and forearms. I jumped from the building, stabbing the blades into the swarm and cutting through it as I fell, destroying countless Heartless. I landed and did a back flip to land by the others. "As promised."

They summoned wierd key shaped swords and ran into the fray, destroying the Heartless with relative ease. Soon the square was empty. Isa immediately came up to me and grabbed me by the collar. "Explain how you can control the Darkness with such ease," he growled.

I shrugged. "Wish I knew."

Xion took his hand off me. "He helped us. That's all that matters."

Riku nodded. "Why're you getting on his case? I use to be able to do that, too. _You_ use to be able to do that."

"We were evil when we could do that," Isa growled. "He might be with Braig and Vanitas."

I perked up at the name "Vanitas." "Hang on, does this Braig guy call Vanitas 'Van'?"

They all looked at me in surprise. "Yeah, actually," Riku responded.

"Then I've met Braig before. Almost killed him, too."

Sora jumped in excitement. "Great! Where were you?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know. I don't have a way to learn Worlds' names, but I'm pretty sure it's in the Realm of Darkness."

"So out of our reach," Sora sighed.

Isa's glare intensified. "Why were you in the Realm of Darkness?"

I found myself stuck with this question. "I... don't actually know. I just woke up there and Braig was there. It's a little fuzzy, but I remember summoning my blades and attacking him. What I don't remember is why I was angry." This lie was going so far that my whole body was starting to itch.

Isa sighed. "Since you seem to have a bit of a memory problem, we'll take you to the old man to get some answers."

"Old man?"

Lea shrugged. "He's talking about Yen Sid the wizard. His tower's just outside of town, and only the magic train can take you there." They took me inside the station and showed me the train. "If Yen Sid can't help, then our other old man Ansem should. He's good with reading Hearts." _I hope he's not good enough to tell that I don't have one._ We boarded the train and departed for the tower.

We arrived very quickly and I was taken to the top. The wizard watched as we entered. "Hello, Midnight. I've been expecting you."

"No he hasn't," Lea whispered. "He just wants to sound old and wise. He was probably using his magic to watch the whole Heartless encounter earlier."

"Ahem," Yen Sid interrupted. "I know why you're here, but I must request to speak with you alone. Everyone else will wait outside." He waved a hand and the others filed out. "Now, I must apoligize for using Lea's rude comment as a chance to inspect you for the answer they wanted. And I am confident that you lied about your amnesia." _Crap!_ "I must say that a Heartless who keeps its memories and appearance is rare. Another was able to, but only by posessing Riku and molding his body to suit him. You, however, are using your own physical form."

I was surprised that he hadn't tried to kill me yet. "So can you tell me why I'm like this?"

He shook his head. "I gathered all I could. My friend Ansem may be able to provide better insight, however, as he knows more about the Heart than anyone. I will relay a message to him and have Xion escort you to his castle in Radiant Garden tomorrow. For now, we shall tell the others that my search was inconclusive."

"Thank you, sir."


	3. Chapter 3

**Ansem the Wise's POV**

I was very intrigued by this Heartless Yen Sid had informed me of. The fact that he maintained his memories didn't shock me as much as it would have before I heard about Xehanort's and Sora's, but what did interest me was his human appearance. I found myself looking forward to his arrival.

The day after I learned of him, Xion arrived with a strangly dressed boy. His air of Darkness told me he was the one I was waiting for.

**Midnight's POV**

The day after my talk with Yen Sid, Xion took me to Radiant Garden to meet Ansem, whom I hoped could figure out what exactly I was. Xion was a lot quieter than the day before, and seemed to sneak a glance in my direction every time I appeared to look away. I asked her about it, but she just nervously muttered an explanation that basically told me "I don't want to talk about it." I had overheard Roxas talking to Axel, Sora, and Riku about her possibly having a crush and not realizing it, but I didn't quite see how it could apply here.

She lead me up to the top of the castle and opened the door to a study. A man with long blond hair and a goatee sat at the desk, dressed in a purple polo and tan pants under a lab coat and red scarf. "Welcome, Xion, Midnight. I recieved word from Yen Sid about why you are here, and I must apoligize, Midnight. Xion's condition seems to be more pressing than yours." I looked between them in confusion, wondering what might be wrong with the girl. "Xion, would you like Midnight to leave for this? You may not want the results revealed." She shook her head. "Fine then. Please take a seat by the bookcase while I prepare, you two." We did as he said and he started typing into a holographic keyboard.

I looked at my friend with concern. "What's going on that you're worried about?" I asked.

She sighed and put a hand over her heart. "This morning, I woke up with an aching pain in my Heart. I was worried that something had gone wrong when Sora created it for me, so I told Yen Sid and he passed it on to Ansem."

"Created?"

She nodded. "I forgot you were a little behind," she laughed slightly. "I was just an empty puppet made to replace Sora before the final battle a few months ago. Sora revived me and two other Nobodies - Roxas and Naminé - to help out, then gave us all real Hearts." I was surprised two learn her backround. _So she knows what it's like to be herself and someone else; just like me._

A huge machine suddenly built itself out of floating data and dropped into the back of the room. "It's ready now," Ansem reported. Xion walked over to him and he opened the steel door. She stepped inside and the door closed. "You'll need to remove your clothes or the machine may digitize them. Don't worry, we can't see you."

**Xion's POV**

Already knowing Ansem not to be a pervert, I removed my clothes and put them into a small compartment. It closed and the machine started. Scanners came to life and took a quick overview of me before the monitor in front of me blinked on. It showed a 3-D image of me, only blue and covered in lines, then started to disassemble the model until only a Heart remained. It zoomed in on the Heart and looked it over for outer damage before moving inside. A cloud of my memories flew all around the inside. The monitor moved past them into the emotional spectrum Ansem had shown me when he studied my Heart while it was still new. This part had actual color, each color indicating an emotion. It zeroed in on a pink orb that was pulsing more than the others: the area designated for compassion and love. Seeming to find its answer, the monitor turned off and the machine shut down, opening the hatch with my clothes. I put them back on and exited.

Ansem had pulled up what the monitor had showed me on his computer and was watching with interest. "Well, Xion, I may have your diagnosis, but I must request that Midnight stands outside. This is for her ears only." Midnight nodded and left. Ansem showed me the last bit of the recording, then laughed. "Your Heart isn't damaged, Xion. It's simply going through something you have yet to experience."

I glared. "Just tell me what the hell is wrong with me."

He laughed again. "There's nothing wrong with you; you're in love."

I took a minute to comprehend what he had said. "Huh?"

He checked his data. "It appears the pain you felt was the the pain of losing your one true love, amplified by your still developing Heart. Perhaps you had a dream last night in which this individual either rejected you or perished. Do you remember anything like that?" I shook my head. "Well then, after I run Midnight through the machine, we can dig a little into your subconsious to find that dream." He pressed a button and the door outside opened. "You can come in now." Midnight reentered, and suddenly my stomach clenched as though I was goimg to vomit. "Xion, if you would exit, I would appreciate it. I'd rather be the first to judge this specimen." I left them alone before I thought to ask what he meant.

**Midnight's POV**

I entered the machine and retracted my clothes into my being, apart from the chain around my neck and the Heartless emblem hanging from it; those seemed to be my only real possessions. I removed the chain and put it into the compartment, allowing the machine to start. It scanned me and a monitor turned on, showing an image of me, only completely black. It zoomed in on where my Heart was imprisoned, scanning it for any abnormalities. After scanning the outside, it went in. That's when things got creepy.

Inside the Heart was nothing but a swirling vortex of Darkness. Every memory was rooted in place by several black sinues sprouting from the sides. The emotional spectrum was in a state of equilibrium that seemed unnatural. The monitor turned off and my chain was returned. I summoned my other clothes and exited.

Ansem was staring at the data in wonder. "Extraordinary!" he breathed. "Most Hearts are in equilibrium of Light and Darkness, but yours has barely any light at all! I'm surprised you haven't been a Heartless longer!" I stared at the data in equal fascination. "And the equality of your emotions! In this state, the smallest compliment could cause you to propose while the slightest annoyance could awaken the Heartless inside of you, yet your emotions stay perfectly in check, even yesterday at the carnival. It's as though you were trained to control it." He tabbed the data. "I'll need to study it some more. Come back tomorrow and I may have an answer for you." He opened the door for Xion. "Midnight, help yourself to anything in the kitchen. Third floor, first room left of the stairs." I followed his directions and quickly found the kitchen. I looked through it and eventually came up with one of those ice creams with two sticks that you break in two. A star-shaped fruit was in the middle, right where it would be broken. I decided to break it and give the other half to Xion, seeing as she seemed very agitated after her examination.

I made it up just as they finished going over the data. Xion was sitting by the bookcase holding her head and Ansem seemed to want to help her, but something about what had occured was too funny for him to bear. I sat down next to her and held out the ice cream. She looked at it for half a second before taking it. "Wow, something must be really going wrong today," I observed.

"You have no idea," she groaned through her ice cream. I took a big bite, bigger than a human should have been able to, but luckly she didn't notice and ate until she crunched the fruit. Ansem looked up and seemed both shocked and amused when he saw the ice cream. Xion looked at it for a long moment before simply finishing it and sticking the stick to the side of the bookcase.

**Ansem's POV**

I could not believe what I had just witnissed. They had just shared a Paopu Fruit without noticing until it was too late! _My god, am I glad I got up this morning!_

I bid them farewell and pulled up Midnight's overview. I put the data of his DNA sequence through a analyzer to see if he might be a subspecies of some kind, but the results were even more astounding. Instead of just one or two, a list of _every_ known Heartless came out. I ran it a few more times before accepting it as correct. "But how could he be all of them?" I studied his DNA a bit closer and noticed that every copy of the sequence I had collected was different by a tiny bit. "It changes," I realized. "That's why it says he's all of them; his changing DNA must cause it to match another Heartless after every change." I deduced the pros and cons of this and filed everything under "MIDNIGHT."

**Midnight's POV**

I was beginning to worry about Xion again. Ever since we'd left, she'd been totally silent, much like when we first arrived, but this time she seemed to be keeping her gaze off me exclusively. _What did Ansem tell her?_ I wondered. I thought back to the ice cream, but dismissed it as it seemed too stupid to be a possibility.

When we arrived back at Twilight Town, Xion didn't even report back to Yen Sid before running back to the building everyone stayed at while here.

I returned to the tower and told the wizard what Ansem had found. "Interesting," he commented, stroking his beard. "A Heart made almost entirely of Darkness, yet still able to remain in your body; memories held in place, preventing them from being lost; equilibrium among emotions. I must say, you are the most intriguing Heartless I've ever encountered. I doubt I'd be surprised if you could weild a Keyblade!"

"Speaking of which..." I intensified my gaze. "I want to learn to use a Keyblade."

**Here's my first message of this story. I just wanted to make sure you weren't imagining Xion, Lea, and Isa in Organization coats. For Lea and Isa, imagine them in their BBS clothes, although minus the scarf for Lea and unzip Isa's jacket. As for Xion, I'm coming up blank so I'm leaving this one to your imaginations. And for clarification, I'm skipping Midnight's Keyblade training 'cause writing those tends to bore the crap out of me and I'm already tempted to start another fic. Just letting you know.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: as I said last time, skipping the training scenes. That is all for now.**

**Midnight's POV**

I stared at the ceiling of my new room. Originally I had bunked with Isa(Lea's idea to piss him off), but when we actually started to get along, Lea removed his illusion hiding a spare room and I moved in.

I was a little frustrated by the current events. Namely, the fact that Sora had told me what that fruit in the ice cream was. _Why did Ansem even have it?_ I wondered angrilly. I had basically tricked us both into eating a love potion! That wouldn't be a problem normally, but guess what? I'm a freaking Heartless! Needing to vent some anger, I went outside to murder some practice dummies.

I stood in front of the yard filled with dummies and summoned my Keyblade. Black blade with a classic four inch wide sword build with a wicked point on the end and red edge, red pommel with black hand guards, red runes running up the blade that translated to "Sink into the Darkness," teeth made of ruby shaped into a shuriken and connected to the blade by two out of four blades with a black metal center, a red chain with four-pronged star links and a keychain shaped like a demonic red eye wrapped in black chains, the Bitter Blackness was a sight to behold. I readied it and attacked the dummies in a frenzy, cutting them all to peices before the sound caught up to my Keyblade.

I sighed as they rebuild themselves and my Keyblade vanished. Ven came out just then. "Hey, Mid. Were you using the training ground?"

"Just finished," I sighed.

He seemed to see the frustration still on my face. "Are you still upset over sharing a Paopu with Xion? Come on, is it really that bad?"

I groaned and crossed my arms. "I wish I could tell you how bad it is." He was instantly curious. "I said I wish I could, but I can't. That's for Yen Sid and Ansem to know. Sorry."

He sighed and summoned his Keyblade before hacking away at a dummy. "Can you tell me what world you're from? I just realized that no one knows."

I thought about what harm it could do before answering, "Sunset City." This caused Ven to miss his hit and practically tackle the dummy.

"Sunset City?!" I was confused by his disbeleif. They couldn't have-

I suddenly remembered when the person with the key-shaped sword tried to save me. Trying hard to remember their face, I was surprised and horrified to recognize Xion. _Ok, this shouldn't be a problem. She didn't see my face, only one eye, which changed when I turned. She won't recognize me._ "Yeah, up until a few weeks before I met all of you, I lived in Sunset City. Then I just woke up in the Realm of Darkness." I left before he could ask too many questions.

Yen Sid had asked for me to visit him for an important assignment, so I headed to the tower. He was waiting in his study with Xion and Isa, and nodded in greeting as I entered. Xion avoided my gaze, her face steadily turning red. "Thank you for coming, Midnight. I called all three of you here for an important mission. Yesterday I sensed a great Darkness forming in The World That Never Was. I want you three to inspect it. Since Xion and Isa lived there while they were part of Organization XIII, you two are the best suited for this. I would have sent Lea and Roxas with you, but I sent them on another errand before I sensed this power. Unfortunately they have yet to return. Midnight will join you as extra strength, seeing as how his power should grow since the castle lies so close to the Realm of Darkness." I nodded. "As well as that, Ansem's research shows that you may be able to pinpoint it's location so to avoid exploring the entire castle."

Isa crossed his arms and looked up in thought. "What could be there? Ever since the Organization's destruction, Nobodies have stopped gathering there."

"A giant Heartless?" Xion suggested.

Yen Sid shook his head. "I would have been able to sense what it was in that case. That is why I'm concerned. But should that be the case, only engage if you cannot escape." We all nodded and left.

Due to mine and Isa's lack of Keyblade Armor, we had to travel by Corridor of Darkness, which, in truth, was faster and easier, but made me feel like I was giving up on returning to the Realm of Light. We arrived in seconds and immediately landed in what looked like a graveyard. My friends looked around sadly. "Proof of Existence," Xion sighed.

"A room for remembering fallen Organization members," Isa continued. "While a member lived, the crystals shone blue, but a dead crystal glew red." He knelt down next to one. "The Luna Diviner. That was Saïx; me."

I looked at Xion. "Where's yours?"

"I wasn't an official member, so I didn't get one."

Something suddenly went off in my head and auddenly I felt which direction our target was in and how far away it was. "I've got it," I reported. I pointed downward to my left.

They both stared in that direction for a moment. "The only thing in that direction is..." Xion stopped short.

Isa finished. "Where Nothing Gathers."

They started leading me in the direction of the area. My mind wandered in our nervous silence to that day in Sunset City. _Xion tried to save me,_ I said to myself. _I have to find some way to thank her without her recognizing me._ "Xion?"

She jumped from the sudden interruption; she'd obviously been thinking hard, too. "Yeah?"

"I, uh, heard you two and Lea were on a mission to save a World called Sunset City."

She instantly wilted. "Yeah, and I'd say we did a pretty bad job of it. No one but us and Braig survived."

"That's not entirely true," I informed her. She looked at me curiously, those big, beautiful- _Shut up, Paopu! _"I'm still standing here. Sunset City was my home." Her and Isa stopped and stared at me in shock. "Thank you both for trying, even if it was for nothing."

My hand was suddenly between Xion's, and she was starting to cry. "I-I'm sorry... I couldn't... I almost..."

I put my other hand on her head. "It was a trap. You're lucky you made it out, but my World was doomed from the start. I lost everyone close to me, but thanks to everyone you introduced me to, I have friends again. Thank you, Xion." She stared into my eyes, then started crying even harder. "Isa, you think we could take a break? You two might need a minute to process this." He was more than willing to sit down and put a hand on his obviously light head, a look of disbelief plastered onto his face.

**Xion's POV**

I couldn't stop the flow of tears that fell from my eyes and were absorbed by Midnight's jacket. _I failed him. How can he even look at me? He lost everything because I couldn't cut it!_ My fingers grazed the small Mark of Mastery pendant I wore under my shirt. _I don't deserve this._ I stood up, much to Midnight and Isa's surprise, and removed the necklace. I made to smash it on the ground, but Midnight caught my hand.

"Stop acting like what happened was your fault." He took the necklace from my hand and placed it back around my neck. "You deserve this. You need full control over the Light and Darkness inside of you to be a Master, and you earned that. I'm never gonna get one of those because I can't even tap into what little Light I have." I looked up at him in surprise. "Xion, you're stronger than me. You've been through more than me. You shouldn't blame yourself just because you couldn't save an already dead world. If anyone thinks differently, then they need to pull their heads out of their asses."

My Heart started thumping like mad, and I didn't even try to fight what happened next. _Ansem's data was right,_ I told myself as I put my arms around his neck. _I _am_ in love with him._ I pressed my lips against his.

Isa's already unfocused eyes blanked even more. "Thanks, now this'll take longer." I ignored him and continued to kiss the boy who had finally made my Heart real.

**Midnight's POV**

I was shocked when Xion suddenly kissed me, but I quickly recovered and returned it, putting my arms around her waist. _Looks like a Heartless just fell in love. Screw you, science._

We broke apart for air, and she smiled up at me. "That's what was wrong with my Heart when we went to see Ansem. It wasn't damaged; I was in love." I put my forehead against hers and closed my eyes, smiling.

Isa told us it was time to continue on before we did anything else that his brain had to process. We continued on until we came to a large door. "Where Nothing Gathers" popped into my head when I touched it. "This is definately the place" I confirmed. "Whatever we're here for is right through here." Isa summoned his claymore and raised it into the air. A beam of light shot from the symbol on it into a mirror on the door, and it slowly began to open.

We stepped inside, then immediately the door slammed shut. "Nice one, losers!" We looked up to see Braig sitting in one of the thirteen seats. "Welcome to my Do-Gooders' Death Trap!" A large mass of Heartless and Nobodies rose from the abyss beneath the platform the seats were anchored to. His eye suddenly focused on me. "Wait, aren't you that wierdo that kept his memories?" I stiffened up. "Yo, how's it been man? Still kickin' ass and regeneratin' crap that would've killed anything else?"

Xion looked at me questioningly. "Mid, what's he talking about?"

"'Mid'?" Braig laughed. "Nice name, but I'm guessing you haven't told them what you really are, huh?"

Isa looked at me from the corner of his eye, though mainly looking at the enemies. "Midnight?"

Braig laughed again. "Seriously, you betray your own kind, now you won't even tell your friends your darkest secret? How do you sleep at night?"

"'Own kind'?" Xion questioned.

"C'mon, man, not even your girlfriend?" Braig was obviously enjoying himself. "Well, how 'bout I tell them myself? Well, traitors, your friend there is actually-" He was cut off by a Dusk landing on his head, then jumping off, followed by a Neoshadow landing on his crotch. "Dammit!" He backhanded the Heartless and stood up, holding his groin. "Who cares if you know or not? You'll all be dead in a few minutes anyway." He vanished into a Corridor of Darkness.

Isa looked at me accusingly. "We'll discuss your secret later. Right now we need to find a way out of here." I tried opening a Corridor of Darkness, but it vanished before it finished forming. "Braig blocked us in. We might be able to break through, but the stone this castle is made of is impervious to Light. Xion won't be able to make a dent." We readied our weapons as the onslaught approached. "Any final words, just in case?" He raised Lunatic in preparation.

Xion started, readying Oblivion. "I wish I'd gotten to spend more time with you, Mid. I shouldn't have avoided you for the past few days." She smiled sheepishly.

I held Bitter Blackness at my side, perpendicular to the ground. "I don't plan on dying, but I don't want you two showing me up." I looked over at Xion and smiled. "I love you, Xion, and thank you for trying to save me."

"Trying to...?" She suddenly realized what I meant. "Wait, you were the boy I tried to save?" I nodded. "But I saw him- er, you vanish!"

"I'd say I'll explain, but there's a chance that by the end of this, I won't need to." We backed up so that we were all back to back. "What about you, Isa?"

He sighed. "I wish I had gotten a Keyblade. I've always been better than Lea at everything, but then he was chosen to wield one." The swarm was closing in. "It was a pleasure fighting with you. Thank you for accepting me despite my mistakes as Saïx."

I smiled. "Thank you both for taking me in on such short notice. Your group seems to have a habit of making fast friends."

Xion finished it off. "Thank you two for sharing our last moments." With that we all bathed ourselves in our respective attributes and started hacking away at the oncoming tide of monsters. Xion summoned her armor immediately, Oblivion splitting into two red Keyblades. Isa went Berserk, attacking the monsters with speed no other man could have with that weapon. Unlike them, I stayed normal; I'd only transform if I absolutely had to.

The swarm didn't seem even close to gone a minute later. My previously empty Munny pouch was now going into the millions due to how many enemies I was destroying, though the others were probably doing a lot better. I started to feel confident until suddenly a Twilight Thorn climbed onto the platform, crushing several of its own kin in the process. On the other side, a Darkside was floating into view. Without even noticing, we'd rotated our positions in the triangle we'd formed, with Xion looking toward the Twilight Thorn and me facing the Darkside.

I was about to fire a blast of Darkness at the approaching Darkside, but I was interrupted by a crunching noise and a scream. I whirled around to see Xion sprawled on the ground, her armor in pieces around her. The giant Nobody retracted its fist as though it had just thrown a punch. Anger suddenly flooding my senses, I let out a loud cry and the room was filled with Darkness.

The power faded, revealing my friends to be perfectly fine and the entire horde wiped out. Undortunately, even more were appearing. Taking advantage of the time I'd bought, Isa and I knelt beside Xion to assess her injury. "Her whole leg is shattered," Isa deduced reluctantly. "There's no way only the two of us can handle this. We're dead."

Thinking hard, I reluctantly disagreed. "No." I stood up. "I might know a way." I held Bitter Blackness the same as before. "Both of you, cover your ears and look away. I don't want you to see what I'm about to do."

Isa looked suspicious. "Is this about that secret?" I nodded. "Then I'm not looking away."

"Me neither," Xion added. "Mid, whatever your secret is, you have to trust us."

"It's not that I don't trust you," I informed them. "It's that you won't trust me after."

Xion shool her head. "I believe in you. Whatever you do, I'll trust you. As long as you don't try to attack us, of course."

Isa put a hand on my shoulder. "We're your friends. I'd trust you with my life."

I clenched my teeth. "You don't understand." Xion tried to interrupt, but I stopped her. "You couldn't possibly understand what it's like to lose everything!" I shouted, Darkness flowing around me. The horde was closing in. "I only just got everything back and I don't want to lose it just because I'm a-!" Xion quickly forced herself to her feet long enough to slap me hard across the face before losing her balance and falling into my arms.

"Mid," she groaned through her pain, "we need you, and we need to trust you. If I can't see the real you, then how can I trust you?" I was at a lose for words, so I just set her down.

I walked toward the approaching monsters, emptying my mind of all positive encouragement. _Who cares if the find out? I'd rather have them shun me than lose them forever._ My pendant glowed and started flailing wildly, revealing itself while I raised my Keyblade into the air. Darkness flowed from the tip, forming a ball around me. The ball solidified, and my transformation began.

**Xion's POV**

I watched as he was encased in Darkness. _I don't care what comes out of there. I love him, no matter what!_

A Heartless emblem appeared on the orb, then cracks, and it suddenly exploded.

**Midnight's POV**

The orb broke, revealing the real me to my friends. My original Heartless form had returned with this transformation, only adding a Heartless emblem to my chest and my Keyblade remained in my hand. I turned to Xion and Isa, both of them shocked at my appearance. I held out a hand to Xion. _"Could I borrow your Keyblade for a minute?"_ I hissed into her mind. She held out the sword, which I took with my left hand. I turned back to the swarm of enemies and roared before taking off at lighning fast speed into them. I let go and let my Heartless side out, destroying them ten times faster than the three of us together could.

**Isa's POV**

I watched in amazement as Midnight started whittling down the number of monsters in the room. The population had dropped by an eighth already, by my estimation, and the amount coming up from the abyss was shrinking rapidly.

Then he seemed to lose all control. He suddenly stopped in the middle of the room, floating perfectly still in the air before starting to curl into a ball. Wind began to howl as the enemies were sucked toward him, being pulled into a huge ball above his head. Once he had them all, he uncurled and held both Keyblades before him. He slowly closed the distance between them, shrinking the ball at the same time. The Heartless and Nobodies screamed in pain as they were crushed. The tips finally touched and the enemies all let out on final screaxh in unision before several hearts suddenly rose out of the ball, indicating that the monsters had been slain.

The now basketball-sized orb of Darkness and Nothingness floated down to Midnight. He grabbed it between both Keyblades, pulled it back behind his head, then hurled it at the ceiling. It exploded in a flash of dark blue and silver, raining peices of white stone down. The explosion continued to rage on even past the ceiling's destruction, most likely spreading to take out most of the upper levels.

After a few minutes of the deafening explosion, Midnight fell from the sky, out of Heartless form and completely unconscious. I ran to catch him before laying him beside Xion. With the barrier now gone, I summoned a Corridor of Darkness and carried them home.

At Yen Sid's tower, he immediately healed everyone's ears(as I had only just noticed that all our eardrums had been shredded and blood was flowing down our faces), but Xion's leg was past magical help. I hoped that the wizard had answers for the mountain of questions piling up. "What was with that transformation Midnight went through, and why was he so hesitant to use it?"

Yen Sid sighed. "I suppose keeping this secret is futile now, at least from you two. What you saw was not a transformation; it was a reversion. I'm afraid that what you imagine to be his physical form is fake. What you saw a few minutes ago was the real Midnight; a Heartless." I looked at they boy, failing to see any signs of him being a Heartless besides his chain.

"But that's impossible!" Xion said. "He has emotions!"

The wizard nodded. "Yes, he is quite a curious case. That is why I sent him to Ansem the Wise. I just recieved the results of his test from Dilan."

Still sceptical, I asked, "Did they tell anything helpful?"

He shook his head. "They proved very contradictory. The test showed that he still would have been an extremely powerful Heartless, but his memories should have gone to a Nobody." He waved his hand, summoning a small Shadow on top of Midnight and a one-way mirror in between us. It looked around and seemed to register that my friend was there, but not seeing him as prey or a threat. Yen Sid dismissed his summons and tapped Midnight on the head. He immediately bolted up, panting heavily.

"Wha-? How'd I get back here?" I crossed my arms. "What?"

"When did you plan on telling us you were a Heartless?" I asked. His eyes widened with shock.

"How-?" Then his memories of our mission flooded back. "Oh, right." He put a hand on his forehead. "If I could manage it, I wasn't going to tell you at all. That's why I was upset over the whole Paopu thing. If me and Xion got together, I would have to tell her eventually." He laughed slightly and looked at the girl. "But when you kissed me earlier, I forgot all about that. When the time came that I had to show myself, the realization that my secret was going to come out hit me like a train. I couldn't stop thinking about you running from me after you saw what I really was." He smiled sadly. "I won't blame you if you want to kick me out now."

I sighed. "I thought I told you that I trusted you. You saved us, so I still do." He looked at me in surprise. "Plus, Xion would be a complete wreck if you left now."

**Midnight's POV**

I excused myself and retreated to the roof of our home with Ansem's notes. I read through them carefully, taking in every bit of information I understood. I studied so intently that I mearly missed a Corridor of Darkness opening and dropping Xion right next to me. "Hey," she said to announce her arrival.

"Hey," I replied, not taking my eyes off the papers.

This obviously disappointed her. "Are you sure you aren't over reacting? We know what you are and we still trust you. How is that a bad thing?"

I sighed. "It isn't. I'm just...overwhelmed by everything right now. I thought these notes would distract me, but it's just a bunch of bios on other Heartle-" I stopped.

"What?" I showed her the page I had turned to. **This information should help, as my research showed that you should be able to use all of their abilities.** "Does this help at all?"

I looked back through the bios. "It might. I found one called a Possessor that can inhabit any non-living thing. I think I can use this!"

Xion understood. "Spying on Braig?"

I nodded. "Next time we see him, I'll make sure to inhabit something of his, probably his coat or eyepatch."

She smiled. "Feeling better then?"

I grinned. "I can use my powers to help in more than just combat. Of course I'm better!"

She moved closer. "Good." She pressed her lips to mine.


	5. Chapter 5

**There will be a new important character this chapter. I've got nothing else to say.**

**Riku's POV**

Ever since their mission to The World That Never Was, Xion, Isa, and Midnight had been acting wierd. Isa acted like he had a major secret, which he was terrible at hiding. I gave Xion and Midnight a pass, though, since their abnormality was a new loving couple attitude. Isa, though, interested me. I knew better than to force it out of the berserker, so I got the only two idiots he wouldn't hurt to help me.

"Isa! Hey, Isa!" Donald called to him.

He turned to them. "Yes?

Goofey asked the question. "Riku wanted to know why you're actin' so wierd lately." _Dammit!_

Isa frowned, then looked up at me from my perch on the clock tower. "That's none of your concern, Riku." He walked away. Donald and Goofey looked up at me, then ran as though their lives depended on it.

**Isa's POV**

Riku had no idea how difficult it was for me to keep Midnight's secret. How do you not tell everyone in sight that there's a Heartless in disguise? I had already slipped up once, accidentally telling the King on my delivery mission the other day, but luckly he kept an open mind and promised not to tell anyone. The day after, Xion admitted to accidentally telling Chip and Dale, but they also promised to keep quiet.

Back to the present, I was now heading to Yen Sid's tower for a mission he had summoned me for. I wasn't all too surprised to find Riku and Terra in the train, as I didn't expect to be the only person on this mission, but I wondered why he had chosen the three of us, what with our dark histories.

Unfortunately, Riku hadn't given up on getting the truth out of me. "Isa," he persisted, "what are you hiding? You don't act like you have a secret and not expect someone to be curious."

I sighed. "Trust me, I wish I could tell you, but Midnight would-" I suddenly realized my mistake.

Terra was interested now. "Mid's in on this, too? Come on, what could possibly be so bad that you can't tell us?" The train arrived just then and I left without answering.

At the top of the tower, we found Yen Sid conversing with Queen Minnie over a crystal ball. He looked up as we arrived. "Ah, hello, you three. Thank you for coming." He looked back at the orb. "Your majesty, could you please explain the situation to our friends here?"

The queen nodded. "Mickey has gone missing." All three of us reeled forward in surprise. "You see, he went to observe the damage Midnight had done to The World That Never Was, but never came back. I'm worried sick."

Riku nodded. "So we need to head there and find the King, right?" Yen Sid nodded. "Alright, then." He turned to me. "Me and Terra will travel with our Keyblade Gliders, but since you don't have a Keyblade, you'll have to use the Darkness to get there." I nodded.

Yen Sid held up a hand to stop us. "I must warn you that due to Midnight's actions there, the castle will be in shambles and extremely hard to navigate. As well as that, Mickey reported that a strange force prevented him from transfroming his Keyblade just before his disappearance. Your Gliders will most likely vanish as soon as you enter, so prepare a way to land safely." We nodded and I vanished into a Corridor of Darkness.

I arrived at the Altar of Naught, noticing immediately how much Midnight's blast had damaged the place. The room's roof and a good portion of its walls were completely obliterated, revealing more of the damage to the upper levels and surounding areas. Several area I knew would have been viewable were completely gone.

Within a few minutes, Riku and Terra landed a few feet away from me, Riku floating down gently and Terra landing on his feet hard enough to make a crater. Riku looked around. "Midnight did all this?"

Terra summoned his Keyblade. "Watch out!" He rushed past me and destroyed an approaching Dragoon. "Looks like some survived."

**Vanitas's POV**

I watched my astral projection of the three intruders with interest as they fought off the creatures I'd sent after them. "Looks like I was right about them coming to save their king." I looked to the side and smirked at the unconsious mouse chained to the wall. "Now time to start phase two of my master plan." I summoned a Flood. "Go alert Absence that it's his turn to take the stage."

**Riku's POV**

The waves of Heartless and Nobodies seemed endless as we destroyed more than we ever had at one time. I looked over at my companions. "We need to try a Limit!" They looked a me as if I was insane, as we had never done one together and a triple limit was nearly unheard of. "It's our only chance!" They nodded and we jumped closer together. We focused on combining our power, then felt a surge of energy as we shouted in unison, "Dark of the Moon!" We all rose into the air, then Terra and I locked the teeth of our Keyblades around Isa's claymore. We covered our Keyblades in Darkness as Lunatic started to glow blue. The three weapons then disassembled and started to peice together, forming a giant orb around us. The orb was covered in Darkness and Moon energy, then crashed to the ground, sending out a shockwave that destroyed all the surounding monsters. Our weapons returned to normal and we all fell to the ground, panting.

I sat up and looked around. "That was awesome." Suddenly, more Heartless and Nobodies started spawning. "Oh, shi-!" A silver blast suddenly fell into view and started to move in a circle around us, destroying anything that came near. Very soon they stopped spawning.

The blast flew upward and into the hands of a man wearing a normal dark green tunic, brown pants, and a hooded grey poncho. The blast faded into what looked like a bent sword and he grabbed the end of it, unbending it. He jumped down and walked toward us. "Who are you?" He asked in a youthful voice.

I stared him down, having trouble trusting this sudden newcomer. "Gaurdians of the Light. We're here to rescue our friend. Have you seen anyone here?"

He sheathed his sword in its scabbard on his back and thought. "There was one guy, a mouse with a wierd sword."

I was relieved. "That's our friend, Mickey. Where is he now?"

He shrugged. "I helped him get away from these two jackasses, then he gave me a pouch of Munny and opened a portal with his sword."

I disspelled my Keyblade and walked over to him. "Thank you for helping him. My name's Riku, and the other two are Isa and Terra."

He nodded and pulled down his hood, revealing his poorly cut brown hair and harsh brown eyes. "Kyle." He looked more intently at us. "Hey, you looked too clean to live here. How'd you get here?"

I summoned my Keyblade and showed it to him. "Our Keyblades lets us open gateways to other Worlds. Me and Terra both have one, but Isa had to use the Darkness to get here. He's one of the only members of our group that doesn't have a Keyblade." Kyle nodded, seeming to understand.

His eyes lit up. "Hey, do you think you could help me get home?"

Terra smiled. "Sure. Where're you from?"

"Sunset City." We all fell silent. "What?"

Isa sighed. "That World was destroyed a little over a week ago. We had thought the only survivor was our friend, Midnight."

Kyle was taken aback. "So... Ben and Cronan..."

Isa noticed his dismay. "We could take you back to our home in Twilight Town. You and Midnight might know each other." He nodded. Isa opened a Corridor of Darkness and led him through while Terra and I opened a gate and flew into the Lanes Between.

**Midnight's POV**

I was on the clock tower eating ice cream with Xion, Naminé, Roxas, and Lea when Isa arrived with someone through a Corridor of Darkness. One look at the boy with him and I instantly jumped down and landed in front of them.

Isa wasn't surprised, as I had made a habit out of that. "Hey, Midnight, good timing. Apparently this guy-"

"Kyle?" I interrupted him.

The boy was startled by my sudden appearance and by recognizing me. "Cronan?!"

Isa looked between us. "So you do know each other."

I nodded. "How'd you survive? The Heartless destroyed everything."

He shrugged. "I just woke up in this big castle. The place was stocked up, so I lived off whatever I found in the bedrooms or kitchen." He rubbed the back of his head. "Then something blew up the upper levels. I was out of the blast range, but a piece of the ceiling fell on my head while I was waiting it out."

I laughed nervously. "Sorry, that was me." He looked surprised. "I was on a mission with Isa and Xion and I kinda lost control while we were fighting a huge mob of Nobodies and Heartless."

The others got down from the clock tower and joined us. "Who's this?" Xion asked, wincing in pain and leaning into her crutch.

I put an arm around her shoulders to steady her. "This is my friend Kyle Davis. He somehow got out of Sunset City alive, too." Then I motioned to the others. "This is Naminé, Roxas, Lea, and my girlfriend, Xion."

Kyle laughed. "Girlfriend? What, did he pay you?"

"Shut up." I started walking to the train station and motioned for the others to follow. "Yen Sid'll want to hear about this."

**This chapter wasn't as eventful as some of the others, but I felt like I needed to stop it here to keep it from getting too boring. I might take a little while to upload the next chapter for personal reasons, so thats that. See you later.**


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